3 good, 3 bad, and 3 ugly takeaways in LA Rams Week 4 humbling loss

What do you do with a loss at home in Week 4 at SoFi Stadium against a divisional rival like the Arizona Cardinals? Do you sulk? Do you scream at the top of your lungs?  Do you allow the hope and optimism, that “Best Team in the NFL” title to fade away and instead don the moniker of “Gotta get better” for a few weeks?

The LA Rams are in a tough place now. After the loss, there is no time to lick wounds, heal bodies, and bruised egos. The Rams are on the road in four days’ time. Not a travel day, a game day. This team must now travel to CenturyLink Field to face the Seattle Seahawks. Do I need to remind anyone that, just like the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams were responsible for giving the Seattle Seahawks an embarrassing loss to end their season in the Wildcard Round of the 2020 NFL Playoffs? Translation? They’ll want to get their pound of flesh as revenge as well.

The Rams are no longer undefeated. Is that a bad thing? It depends entirely upon what happens next. If this is a dominoes effect of downward play, then …Yikes!  If the LA Rams used this loss to refocus, tweak their lineups, refine their playcalling, and get a renewed vigor and outlook on what the team needs to do to put an embarrassing home loss behind them, it will prove to be a blessing in disguise.

In the words of my wise father once told me: “It’s never as bad as it seems, it’s never as good as it seems.” That wisdom carried me past the hyperbole describing the LA Rams heading into Week 4. That wisdom will carry me past the despair the team faces heading into Week 5. It makes sense to cling to a basic truth amidst all of the “We’re great” followed by “We suck” mood swings that are going on right now.

Some instant reaction gems from social media after the loss?

I – I’m not having fun anymore @RamsNFL
II – The #AZCardinals sent a message to the rest of the NFL on Sunday after demolishing the previously unbeaten #Rams
III– Is Goff playing for the Rams right now?
IV–Cardinals look like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. 4-0 with thrashings of the Rams and Titans.
V–If the Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the entire landscape of the NFC changes. Not just for this season, but for the next 5. Y’all ready?
VI – Mistakes mistakes mistakes

The Rams lost today. In Week 5, the LA Rams may win the game and the Cardinals may lose their game. This is one game out of 17 games, and the Rams are now 3-1. Hey, losing sucks. But the Rams will have to unpack the lessons learned, flip the fixes, and get going in four days. So here we go. The compressed, detailed version of the good, the bad, and the uglies from Week 4. Here we go: